Means for removing ice cubes from refrigerator trays



H. L. WHITE Feb. 2, 1937.

MEANS FOR REMOVING ICE CUBES FROM REFRIGERATOR TRAYS Filed Feb. 16, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 H. L. WHITE Feb." 2, 1937.

MEANS FOR REMOVING ICE CUBES FROM REFRIGERATOR TRAYS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 16, 1931 1 u n n Patented Feb. 2, 1937 2,069,567

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MEANS FOR REMOVING ICE CUBES FROM REFRIGERATOR TRAYS Henry L. White, ma Bluff, Calif.

Application February 16, 1931, Serial No. 516,242

13'Claims. (01. 62-1085) This invention relates generally to a method drawings is of well known conventional type and and means for releasing and facilitating the reis employed simply to facilitate the illustration moval of ice cubes from refrigerator trays, and of the invention. It comprises a grid 6 disposed particularly to an attachment for such a tray within an inside casing 1, and either formed employing electrical heating elements incorpointegrally therewith, attached thereto, or un- 5 rated in the walls of the tray, whereby to thaw attached thereto as in the case of certain well the cubes at their points of contact with the known types of refrigerator trays. Reference walls of the tray, to enable the removal of the will now be had to Figures 1 to 4, inclusive. cubes by gravity upon the inversion of the tray. At one end of the tray and secured upon the It is an object of this invention to provide a outside of the casing 1 is a suitable electrical 10 new and novel application of electrical heating connection plug 9 to which is adapted to be conenergy to'the general purpose of thawing ice free nected any suitable electric current supply means from its container, or the vessel in which it has such as a household electrical connection cord. been manufactured, so as to facilitate the removal Tubes H! are disposed in horizontal positions and of the ice therefrom, and topermit the ice to be mounted on the outside of the side and end walls 15 gravitationally removed from its container. of the inner casing 1 at a height slightly above These and other objects of the invention, its the intermediate height thereof, and a suitable nature and its composition and arrangement and cylindrical heating element II is disposed therecombination of parts will be readily understood in. The tube or tubes I0 is secured as indicated by any one acquainted with the art to which this at 12 in any suitable manner to the exterior of 20 invention relates upon consulting the following the inner casing 1. Similar tubes l3 are secured descriptions of the drawings, in which:--- as indicated at 14 approximately on the meeting Figure 1 is a top plan view of an ice cubetray point of the lower edge of the side walls of the having electrical heating elements associated inner casing 1 and the bottom thereof, and the therewith. tube l3 surrounds the tray at this point. The 25 Figure 2 is a side elevational view of Figure 1. tube 13 contains also a. suitable cylindrical heat- Figure 3 is a transverse vertical cross sectional ing element 15. Another similar tube [6 is seview taken approximately on the line 3-3 of cured as indicated at [1 centrally and longi- Figure 1. tudinally of the underside of the bottom ill of Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing the inner casing 1, and is extended to join the 30 the exterior casing removed from the tray. portions of the tubes l3 which are at either end Figure 5 is a transverse vertical cross sectional of the tray. A short vertical tube l9 rises from view of another form of my invention employing the juncture of the tubes I3 and I6 at the end instead of cylindrical or wire heating elements, of the casing having the connection plug 9, and

a ribbon heating element disposed in the walls is attached to the outside of the inner casing, and 35 and in the central partition of or the grid of the communicates with the inner end of the contray. nection plug 9. The heating elements are suit- Referring in detail to the drawings the numeral ably connected to the plug 9. Reference has 5 generally designates an ice cube freezing tray been had thus far chiefly to Figure 4. It will be which may be of any conventional type such as observed that Figure 3, while disclosing an identi- 40 that employed in mechanical or artificial ice cal arrangement of cylindrical heating elements machines either of the domestic type or of the. 20, 2| and 22, has a specifically different method commercial type. It is to be understood that the of mounting the heating element tubes to the invention is not limited to freezing trays of meoutside of the inner casing. In the case of the chanical or other ice making machines, but is to form shown in Figure 3, the interior casing 11: 5 be applied to any'container of ice, the ice either and the exterior casing 8a are preferably formed being made or manufactured in the said concontinuously in one piece, the exterior casing tainer or not as the case may be. The broad idea 8a being suitable stamped or formed to provide of the invention is the provision of electrical heatthe open tubular formations 23, 24 and 25 coring means for heating the walls of a container for responding to the tubes l0, l3 andlli, whereby 50 thawingjthe ice next to the walls of the conto confine the heating elements mentioned in the tainer so as to free the ice from gripping the consame position as obtains in the case of the form tainer to permit it to be easily removed thereillustrated in Figure 4. Another noticeable difirom. ference is that at the point 26 in Figure 3 the g The form of ice cube tray illustrated in the inner casing is upwardly'swelled to accommodate 55 the cylindrical heating element 22, whereas in Figure 4 no such swelling is found. Of course, an exterior casing 8 separate from the interior casing I but of exactly the form of the exterior casing 8a is adapted to be placed outside of the inner casing 1, to achieve the general arrangement shown in Figure 3, namely, an interior and an exterior casing closely associated to provide the body of the tray and to support and confine the heating elements. The exterior appearances of the forms illustrated in Figures 3and tare practically the same.

Referring to Figure 5, wherein a further form of the invention is disclosed, it will be apparent that the innercasing lb and the outer casing 8b are so formed and attached together that there is provided therebetween a space wherein is confined a ribbon heating element 21 which may be of any suitable form, to extend in a flat and extended manner throughout the space between the inner and the outer casings lb and 8b, respectively. The grid 6a rises in the same point of disposition as the grid 6 of the other forms of the invention. It is formed integral with the interior casing and provided with a vertical and longitudinally extended space which rises to a point just within the tip of the upper extremity of the grid, and in which is confined a ribbon heating element 28 connected with the heating element'2'l at the point 29.

The interior and exterior casings may be of any suitable material and may be of tubular formation for confining the heating elements, and any suitable electrical circuit may be employed whereby to energize the heating elements, and a suitable control means may be associated with the circuit to prevent the overheating of the device.

Thus it is believed that I have provided a new utilization for electrical heating elements, .namely that of applying electrically generated heat to the container of a body or bodies of ice whereby to facilitate the removal of the ice therefrom by thawing the surfaces of the ice in contact with and gripping the interior surfaces of the container.

In the case of ordinary ice cube trays, it is necessary to carry the dish or tray of cubes from the refrigerator to the sink and run over the inverted tray hot water or cold water, the operation being attended with various inconveniences which are well known, and which result in loss of ice, unsanitary handling of the ice and other inconvenient and undesirable conditions. However, when using my invention, it is necessary only to connect the plug -9 with a suitable current outlet such as would be conveniently found in a room of a house or apartment, and in ten or fifteen seconds or thereabouts, the ice cubes have been conditioned to be easily removed from the tray simply by inverting the tray over the provided receptacle provided for receiving the loosened cubes, whereupon the cubes will drop out of the tray, without handling, and without breakage or waste, and in a manner and at a saving of time which will be found highly desirable, especially since the device of my invention may be incorporated in a ice box or refrigerator which constitutes part of a complete unit of refrigerator and cube remover, so that the cubes may be quickly and conveniently removed from the tray at the ice box or refrigerator rather than at some other place removed therefrom.-

It is to be definitely understood that I do not desire to limit the application of this invention to the particular modifications set out herein to illustrate the principles thereof, and any change or changes may be made in material, arrangement and combination of parts consistent with the spirit of the invention and the scope of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:-

1. An ice cube freezing tray comprising an inner tray form, electrical heating means supported at the outside of the walls of the tray form, an outer tray form surrounding and connected to the inner tray form and having tubular portions enclosing the heating means, and other heating means supported at the outside of the juncture of the lower edge of the walls and of the bottom of the inner tray form, said outer tray having second tubular portions enclosing and supporting said other heating means.

2. An ice cube freezing tray comprising an inner shell, an outer shell conformed to and secured to the inner shell, outwardly expanded portions formed in the outer shell defining with the inner shell heating element receiving chambers, and electrical heating elements in the chambers, some of said chambers being arranged longitudinally of the tray and spaced from the upper and lower edges of the walls thereof, others of said chambers being arranged at the junctures of the lower edge of the walls with the side edges of the bottom of the tray.

3. An ice cube freezing tray comprising an inner shell including a grid having a central longitudinal partition, an outer shell conformed to and secured to the inner shell, outwardly expanded portions formed in the outer shell defining with the inner shell heating element receiving chambers, and electrical heating elements in the chambers, some of said chambers being arranged longitudinally of the tray and spaced from the upper and lower edges of the walls thereof, others of said chambers being arranged at'the junctures of the lower edge of the walls with the side edges of the bottom of the tray, and one of said chambers located longitudinally of the bottom of the tray and spaced from the side edges thereof and under the said central longitudinal partition.

4. An ice cube freezing tray comprising an inner shell including a grid having a central longitudinal partition, an outer shell conformed to the outside of and secured to the inner shell, outwardly expanded longitudinally extending portions formed in the outer shell defining with the inner shell tubular heating element receiving chambers, an electrical heating element supported in each of the chambers, said electrical heating elements being supported solely by the walls of the chambers, some of said chambers being near to the top of said walls and others of saifl chambers being near to the bottom of said wa s.

5. An ice cube freezing tray comprising an inner shell including a grid having a central longitudinal partition, an outer shell conformed to and secured to the inner shell, outwardly expanded portions formed in the outer shell defining with the inner shell heating element receiving chambers, and electrical heating elements in the chambers, some of said chambers being arranged longitudinally of the tray and spaced from the upper and lower edges of the walls thereof, others of said chambers being arranged at the junctures of the lower edge of the walls with the side edges of the bottom of the tray, and

one of said chambers being located longitudinally of the bottom of the tray and spaced from the side edges thereof and under the said central longitudinal partition, said one of said chambers having its ends connected to said other chambers.

6. An ice cube freezing tray comprising an inner shell including a grid having a central longitudinal partition, an outer shell conformed to and secured to the inner shell, outwardly expanded portions formed in the outer shell defining with the inner shell heating element receiving chambers, and electrical heating elements in the chambers, some of said chambers being arranged longitudinally of the tray and spaced from the upper and lower edges of the walls thereof, others of said chambers being arranged at the junctures of the lower edge of the walls with the side edges of the bottom of the tray, and oneof said chambers being located longitudinally of the bottom of said tray and. spaced from the side edges thereof and. under the said central longitudinal partition, said one of said chambers having its ends connectedto said other chambers, a connection plug on one end of the tray, a vertical chamber at the same end of the tray and with which all of the chambers communicate, said vertical chamber being communicated with the connection plug.

7. In an ice cube forming tray including a bottom and side and end Walls rising therefrom, a grid resting on and connected to the bottom, said grid including a central longitudinal partition and a plurality of transverse partitions intersecting said central partition, said bottormend walls, and side walls having laterally outwardly extending chamber means and electrical heating elementmeans extending along and contained by said chamber means, at least one of said chamber means extending along and in heat exchange relation to said central partition.

8. In an ice cube forming tray including a" bottom and side and end walls rising therefrom, a grid resting on and connected to the bottom, said grid including a central longitudinal partition and a plurality of transverse partitions intersecting said central partition, said bottom, end walls, and side walls having outwardly spaced portions which with the exterior thereof define electrical heating, element enclosures, and electrical heating element means extending in and contained by said enclosures, one of said enclosures being located at the juncture of the lower end of said central partition and said bottom.

9. In an ice cube forming tray including a bottom and side and end walls rising therefrom, a grid resting on and connected to the bottom, said grid including a central longitudinal partition and a plurality of transverse partitions intersecting said central partition, said bottom, end

walls, and side walls having outwardly spaced portions which with the exterior thereof define electrical heating element enclosures, and electrical heating element means extending in and contained by said enclosures, some of said enclosures being located at the junctures of the "lower ends of said side and said end walls with said bottom.

10. In an ice cube forming tray including a bottom and side and end walls rising therefrom, a grid resting on and connected to the bottom, said grid including a central longitudinal partition and a plurality of transverse partitions intersecting said central partition, said bottom, end walls, and side walls having outwardly spaced portions which with the exterior thereof define electrical heating element enclosures, and electrical heating element means extending in and contained by said enclosures, one of said enclosures being located at the juncture of the'lower end of said central partition and said bottom, some of said enclosures being located at the junctures of the lower ends of said side and said end walls with said bottom.

11. In an ice cube forming tray including a bottom and side and'end walls rising therefrom, a grid resting on and connected to the bottom,

' said grid including a central longitudinal partition and a plurality of transverse partitions intersecting said central partition, said'bottom, end walls, and side walls having outwardly spaced portions which with the exterior thereof'deflne electrical heating element enclosures, and electrical heating element means extending in and contained by said enclosures," some of said enclosures being located at the junctures of the lower ends of said side'and said end walls with said bottom, and others of said enclosures being located longitudinally along said side walls and of said end walls of the tray and intermediate the upper and lower ends thereof.

12. An ice cube freezing tray comprising a wall involving an inner shell, a conforming outer shell secured on the exterior of said inner shell, said outer shell being laterally outwardly deformed I away from said inner shell so as to define longitudinal substantially semi-circular cross section chambers, and electrical heating elements supported in said chambers, some of said chambers being spaced from the upper and lower edges of the wall of the tray.

13. An ice cube forming tray comprising a bottom, side walls and end walls, a grid lying within said side and end walls and secured to said bottom, said grid including a central longitudinal partition and a plurality of transverse partitions intersecting said central partition, said bottom and said side and end walls having laterally outwardly extending tubular enlargements defining heating element chambers, and electrical heating elements contained by said ohambers.

HENRY L. WHITE. 

